Motorcycle side car



R. F. ROGERS.

MOTORCYCLE SIDE CAR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. I918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

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R. F. ROGERS.

MOTORCYCLE SIDE CAR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. me.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. F. ROGERS MOTORCYCLE SIDE CAR. APPLICATION FILED MAYZI. 1918-Patented Oct. 14,1919.

I 4 SHEET$-SHEE T 3.

R. F. ROGERS.

MOTORCYCLE SIDE CAB. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. I9l8.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- sTnT s PATENT OFFICE.

"RALPH, F. ROGERS, or oI IoAeo, ILLINOIS.

MOTORCYCLE SIDE CAR.

To all whom, z'tmay concern:

Be it known that I, (RALPH, F. Rooms, .a citizen of the United States,residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement 1n MotorcycleSide Cars, of whichthe followin is a specification. v I

wry nvention-relates to certain new and useful improvements inmotorcycle side-cars andis fully described and explained in thes'peci'fieation and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which I Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device; Fig. 2a rearelevation; 3,,atop plan of the 'running ge ar; Fig, 4, a section on the line 4; ofFig, 3; Fig, a'sectionion the line 50f Fig; 2; Fig. 6, a top plan ofamodified form of the outer end of the axle, and-its connections;s, Fig.7, x a vertical section through the 'axleshowing the adapt-ationv of thestructure to use with an extension axle.

The present structure is designedto simplify the running gearto thegreatest pos sible extent, omitting all unnecessary parts, thussavingweightand reducing the cost.

In the drawings, "8 is the axle, prefer-ably of tubular form. At itsinner end is aforging 9 containing a socket which receives the I Itubular axle a yertical longitudinally-ex- "ao tendingplate-portion 10'to which is adjustably securejclja socketmemberil (Figs. 2 and v 5 therear. end of the, plate-portion beingturned outwardly to form an ear 12,

(Figs 2,, 3 and, '5), to which is bolted a pin 1,3 isupporting aspringshackle 14. The socket me'mber 11 is attachedjto a ball-member 15secured to the motorcycle, the vertical adjustment of thejso'cket'member upon thelate of the forging permitting the axle to e maintainedperfectly horizontal in .spite of variations inthe v position of theballmember on motorcycles of different constructions. Sincehowever theextreme difi'erence in verticalposition of the ball -member inmotorcycles now on -themarket is not over three-fourths of an incheither direction from a mean position, the adjustment of the socketmember 11 may be dispensed with, the" axle being inclined slightly, and{the body: either being ad'justed to, compensate forthe inclination ofthe axle or not as desired. 16 is a brace attaohed by a bracket 17 tothe axle and runnin upward and for-- ward to a point adjacent theseat-post cluster' 'of theniotorcycle; This brace "is preferably ISpecification of Letters Patent. 4 Patented Oct. 14,1919. Applicationfiled M5 27, 1918. Serial Na -236,793.

curvedto afford a limited elasticity so that the. small vibrations ofthe side-car running gear froln the road are cushioned thereby beforereaching the motorcycle. On the outer end of the axleis a forging 18having a split socket 19 at itslong end, which is clampedto the end ofthe axle. The forging has anupwardly-extending portion 20 into which isdriven an axle-pin 21 having a taper fit in the socket and held in placeby a nut 22. A Wheel is journaled on this axle pin in the usual manner.The forging 18 has a: rearwardly-extending' spring-supportingpin 23between which and the shackle l l is 7 carried. a semi-elliptic.spring24c.

} 2511s the fender which is carriedby three braces 26, two horizontaland one vertical, on opposite sides of the wheeh the three bracesroneach side meeting .in fittings 27 'whichv are carried by. the .two endsof the axle-pin 21 and held inpla-ce by nuts. Thefenderv can 7 thus bereadilyremovedfor work on the tire.- The fender is kept from oscillatingor swingingiaround its support by ,a brace 28 on' the. inside ofthe-fender which is heldin place bya screw '29 entering the lower partof the forging 18 Whenit is desiredto employ an extension axle .withthisstructure, the axle-pin 21 is knocked out and. an extensiblezmernber 30is slippedinto the tubular axle 8 A'forging'31iscarried on the end ofthe extensible member, and the axle-pin can befinserted thereinprecisely asin the forgin 18. By

this arrangement the 'sidei-caris a apted for use.,with' the extensionaxle, for which I there is considerable ,demand, because for certainparticular .uses it is highly desirable lbut which is, inpoint offact,vvery little used.

In, accordanceswith, present practice. a motorcycle must be made eitherwith or without anextension axle.- If made with an 'extension axle" a,very considerable weight is added, and yet wthelexten'sion feature is.fsel'don used,- and win many cases never used. With my arrangemennwonthe con-- trary, "there is no, addedweight Whatever excepting when it isactually desired to employl'the extension feature, for whenthe extensionis; not to; be actually used the extension axle will be removed,bodily,and 7 therefore it will beipossible with my structure to avoid 'thenowcommonpractice of e vin iinextende'cl condition,

round aheavy extension axle in;

The forging 18 has projecting forward ears 32 (Figs. 1 and 4) to whichis pivotally secured a forging 33 carried by the rear end of a diagonalbar 3%, preferably of rear,- wardly-open channel iron, the diagonal barbeing curved at 35 and attached to the lower forward portion of themotorcycle frame. In fitting a Sidecar to various motorcycle frames,there is some little variation in the distance between the forward andrear points of attachment of the side-car, and also a small variation inthe vertical po'si tion of the forward attachment. The pivotalarrangement illustrated will amply compensate for these variations, butin the alternative the rather simpler construction of Fig. 6 may beemployed. In it, the forging 18 is provided with a squared portion 36extending diagonally forward in the line of the diagonal bar 3% andrigidly bolted in place therein. lVith this arrangement the naturalresilience of the bar 34 is relied upon to compensate for variations inthe dis tance between the points of attachment of the side-car frame.

A cantaliver spring 37 is securedby a clamp 38 to a central point on theaxle 8 and runs forward therefrom.v It passes underneath the diagonalbar 34 and is secured thereto by a clamp 39 and its end extendsupwardly, being attached to the forward end of the body 40. Inassembling, the clamp 39 is tightened up after the diagonal bar has beenadjusted'to place.

The body itself is of novel form, being principally distinguished, froma mechanical point of view, by the fact that it has a long rearprojection l1 behind the seat, in which projection the heavyaccessories, such as a spare tire, and other heavy luggage, canbecarried. This results in making it possible to secure the axlesubstantially in line with the axle of the rear wheel of the motorcycle,to advance the seat in the. sidecar well forward to one side of the seatof the motorcycle, and, at the same time, through the proper placing ofthe extra weight of aspare tire, luggage, etc, at the extreme rear, tothrowthe center of gravity of the side-car well back, so that the dangerof upsetting in rounding corners is reduced to aminimum.

The structure herein described has not only the obvious advantages ofextreme simplicity and light weight, but is adapted to an extraordinaryextent to be knocked down for shipment The diagonal bar is readilydisconnected from the outer end of the axle and both the diagonal barand axle can be very quickly disengaged from, the body. The wheel can bepacked in the body itself and the axle and diagonal bar. will simplyform straight pieces which can be packed at will either in the body orbeside it in a rectangular crate or box The present (161' vice,therefore, can be packed in a much smaller package than is now possiblewith devices of this character.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of theconstruction herein shown, and I do not intend to limit myself thereto,except as pointed out in the following claims, in which it is myintention .to claim all the novelty inherent in the device as broadly asis permitted by the state of the art.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A motorcycle frame comprising an axle transverse to the motorcycleframe and attached to the rear thereof, and a diagonal bar running fromthe outer end of the axle to a forward point on the motorcycle frame,the axle and diagonal bar forming with the motorcycle frame, asubstantially horizontal rigid triangle, and a front spring runningforwardly from a central point in the diagonal bar and backward forattachment to the axle.

2. A motorcycle side-car running gear, comprising an axle transverse tothe motorcycle frame and a diagonal bar extending forwardly from theouter'end of the axle to a forward point on the motorcycle frame, theaxle and diagonal bar forming with the motorcycle frame'a triangle, arear body spring'having a two-point bearing on the rear axle and a frontspring running foryyard from a central point on the diagonal 3. Amotorcycle side-car running gear having a two-bar frame consisting of anaxle at the rear and a diagonal bar running fromthe outer end of theaxle to a forward point on themotorcycle frame, a spring affording arear supportfor a body and connected thereto at one point and having itsen dscarried by the rear axle, and a central longitudinally extendingspring furnishing a support for the front of the'body and secured to acentral point'in the diagonal bar. 4. A motorcycle side car running gearhaving a two-bar frame consisting of an axle at'the rear and a diagonalbar'running from the otherend of the axle to a forward point on themotorcycle frame, spring means affording a two-point support for a bodycarried by the rear axle, and a front spring affording one-point supportfor the body running from the rear axle beyond the diagonal bar, andsecured to both.

5. A knock-down motorcycle side-car frame, consisting of an axle adaptedfor attachment adjacent the rear of the motorcycle, a substantiallyhorizontal diagonal bar detachably and flexibly connected to the outerend of the axle and running to a forward point on the motorcycle frame,whereby the motorcycle frame serves to form with said axle and diagonalbar a rigid triangle free from other longitudinal connections adjacentthe outer end of the axle and bar.

6. A side-car frame comprising an axle transverse to a motorcycle frameand attached to the rear thereof, and a substantially horizontaldiagonal bar running from the outer end of the axle to a forward pointon the motorcycle frame, the diagonal bar and axle being adapted toyield in the. horizontal plane to accommodate themselves to motorcyclesof different distances between points of attachment.

7 A side-car frame comprising an axle transverse to a motorcycle frameand attached to the rear thereof, and a diagonal bar running from theouter end of the axle to a forward point on the motorcycle frame, thediagonal bar and axle being adapted to yield in the horizontal plane toaccommodate themselves to motorcycles of different distances betweenpoints of attachment, and a front spring connected to both axle anddiagonal bar, and extending forward of a central point in the diagonalbar.

8. A motorcycle side-car frame having a hollow rear axle, an axle-pinsupportingmenrber at one end thereof, an extension axle telescoping inthe main axle and having a generally similar axle-pin supportingmember,and an axle-pin adapted to be supported in either of said memberswhereby the extension axle can be removed when its use is unnecessary.

9. A motorcycle side-car running gear, comprising an axle transverse tothe motorcycle frame and a diagonal bar extending forwardly from theouter end of the axle to a forward point on the motorcycle frame, theaxle and diagonal bar forming with the motorcycle frame a substantiallyhorizontal rigid triangle, a rear body spring having a two-point supporton the rear axle and a front spring having a one-point support centrallyof the diagonal bar.

RALPH F. ROGERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

